Yeah, I think that's what it comes down to.  Josh was right, she can't quit the race while she's winning primaries, but the math seems to say she can't win the nomination.  Plus the public at large (which is highly different from hard-core Hillary primary voters) has, I believe, grown weary of her brass knuckles campaigning.  More importantly, I think the Clintons have alienated a lot of Democratic clout -- other their own considerable reservoir -- which could have helped them.  After all, when a former Clinton cabinet member like Bill Richardson endorses Obama, is there any hope for a Gore endorsement of Hillary?  I don't think so, and Gore is sort of the Silent Party Chief right now.

So, maybe after Tuesday, assuming the polls are averaged out and we see a smaller Clinton win in Indiana than an Obama win in North Carolina, I'm guessing we'll hear about a major-league powwow -- Obamanites, Clintonistas, Chairman Dean, President Carter, the Rightful President Gore, John "The Haircut" Edwards, throw in a few other household and not household names -- and what comes out is the Obama-Clinton ticket.

Everyone of political knowledge I put that possibility to up until recently said "No way no how Obama would allow Bill Clinton to be Second Gentleman, in that proximity to his presidency."  That was conventional wisdom I.  Conventional wisdom II would have said "no way no how do the Democrats take their best shot at the White House since Bill Clinton ran the second time and entrust the ticket to an African-American man and a White woman."

But, see, this is Hillary's last chance to be more than a Senator.  We've talked a lot about age.  Hillary is almost smack-dab between Barack Obama and John McCain in age -- 14 years older than Obama but only 11 years younger than McCain.  No one has "officially" campaigned from the Democratic side for President yet, but all the numbers say the Dems win, and realistically, Hillary has to pencil that Dem in for a likely second term.  So, if Hillary loses the nomination, I can't see her trying to win again at age 70 in 2016 (Maggie Thatcher, your table is ready).

So why does it make sense for Hillary to stay in the dogfight?  The only reason I can see is to overcome the CW (and her own negatives) and get on the ticket as potentially the highest ranking elected official who also happens to be a woman.  It also makes a little bit of sense in another way.

Hillary is being accused of (or credited for) running a "Republican-like campaign" -- at least the kind of dirt-dishing, mud-slinging, scorched-earth Republicanism we've become accustomed to over the past 20+ years.  The Vice Presidential slot is exactly where the nasty fits in the Republican playbook.  Walk it back: Dick Cheney for Dubya; Jack Kemp for Bob Dole; George H.W. Bush for Ronald Reagan; Bob Dole for Gerald Ford.  The only time the Republicans departed from this formula was when Dan Quayle was picked for his pretty boy looks and it still worked -- once -- because the Democrats nominated Michael Dukakis, the most inept presidential candidate since Pat Paulson.

Think about it: Ford, Reagan, Dole, Bush the Lesser, all had the luxury of appearing "presidential" and above-the-fray while Democrats usually picked a Veep to appeal to a market segment (pardon me, I meant "constituency").  Sure, it was an illusion, but often it worked.  That's why McCain can pledge to run a "clean" campaign -- the truncheon will be wielded by his first lieutenant.

Apply that now to the scholarly, thoughtful, furrow-browed, statesman-like, golden orator Barack Obama who, by the way, has consistently been criticized for, or at least questioned about, maybe not having what it takes to fight back when things are less than polite.  Empirically, his drop in stature and in the polls at the hands of Hillary's Handlers seems to lend credibility to this aura of doubt. Give the Obama campaign Hillary's blitzkreig attack ability and the Clinton network of clout and connections and victory seems all but inevitable.

Amazingly, the role of Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee for 2008 seems made for Hillary Clinton now, though it didn't start that way.  If she can't win the nomination, she'll still have finished so narrowly that it beomes next to impossible for the Party to keep her off the ticket.  Obama the Foreign Policy Dad.  Hillary the Domestic Policy Mom. It's just crazy enough to work.

Hillary for President (of the Senate).  Might make a nice bumper sticker -- look hard enough and there's something there for everyone.